Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Forte added blinkers to cover a half-mile in :50 flat in company Saturday at Saratoga in his final work ahead of next Saturday's $500,000 Jim Dandy (G2) at the upstate New York track.
Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Forte, with Irad Ortiz Jr. up, went in company with four-time graded stakes-winning stablemate Emmanuel. It was Forte's second breeze this summer at Saratoga after covering a half-mile in :48.90 last Friday.
The dark bay son of Violence, a last out second in the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 10, won Gulfstream Park's Fountain of Youth (G2) on March 4 and Florida Derby (G1) on April 1. He entered the Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 6 at Churchill Downs as the morning-line favorite but was scratched the morning of the race with a bruised foot.
Pletcher said he decided to make the equipment change following last week's work.
“In the Florida Derby, he lost concentration a little bit around the far turn and fortunately enough he was able to rally and get up in time. He sort of did the same thing in the Belmont,” Pletcher said. “We thought in his breeze last week, he was kind of more focused on what the horse next to him is doing rather than what he should be doing.
“Irad and I had a conversation after that work about possibly trying some blinkers on him,” Pletcher continued. “We galloped him in them one day this week and it seemed like that went fine. Irad felt like he was a little more focused on what he was asking him to do rather than what the horse next to him was doing. If we were going to try an equipment change, we felt like the Jim Dandy would be the race to do it in and not wait until the Travers if we felt we needed to make a change.”
Pletcher said the blinkers made a noticeable difference.
“He was locked in and more aggressive going to the pole and then he settled in a really good rhythm,” Pletcher noted. “But when Irad asked him, he responded right away. He didn't seem to care what his workmate was doing as much.”
The post ‘Noticeable Difference’: Forte Perks Up With Addition Of Blinkers In Final Jim Dandy Tune-Up appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
